Woman claims car was stolen from wrecker shop

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — For Tara Dulaney, her Volkswagen Jetta was not just a car to her.

“It means a lot. I took care of it. It was a 2012. If you saw it, you would’ve thought it was brand new,” Dulaney said.

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She got into a car accident on August 31st. According to the police report, Earl’s Wrecker Service towed the car. Dulaney says she went to Earl’s and removed some personal items from her car. After that, Dulaney says the trouble started.

“I contacted my insurance company. Had them- they called on the seventh and verified that my car was on the lot. And when they sent the adjuster out on the eighth, nobody could find my car,” Dulaney said.

She says Earl’s first told her the car was taken to a salvage auto auction in Dunn, but Dulaney says the company has no record of her car being there.

“I talked to the Lady behind the desk. She gave me the same story. I explained to her that nobody could find the car, it wasn’t released. And Earl walked in at that time and said he would look into it,” Dulaney said.

We reached out to Earl’s Wrecker service. A man named Terry, who wouldn’t give his last name, called back.

“The car was put in the second lots and someone came and took it. For all I know, it could have been the owner,” Terry said.

Dulaney filed a police report and is working with her insurance company. Furthermore, she’s upset and hopes no one else will deal with something like this.

“Maybe they didn’t take it, but that gate had to be unlocked for that car to go and disappear,” Dulaney said.

Wilmington Police says they are investigating. Information has been put into a database, so if anyone runs the vin number, it will come up as stolen. An investigating officer says Earl’s told them they don’t have any video of the theft.